INSIGHT

Public media in Europe: Cooperate to survive

16 May 2025

As European public service media confront new challenges and the need to transform, RTBF’s spokesperson Axelle Pollet explores how European PSM can navigate this pivotal time together and strengthen the values of PSM across the Union.

The future of our media will largely depend on our collective ability to redefine public media’s mission in a shared way. This means guaranteeing their independence through sustainable funding mechanisms, statutory protection and explicit recognition of their contribution to democratic life.

To enable public media to invest in quality content, innovate and fully fulfil their mission, it is essential that they can rely on a stable and predictable framework. This stability is a necessary condition for committing to long-term investment, supporting creation and accompanying digital transitions. However, the fundamental indicator that remains is the trust placed in them by audiences, in all their diversity, because it is this trust that legitimises their action on behalf of the community that mandates them. The European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) is a reminder of the importance of guaranteeing editorial autonomy, transparency of funding and respect for pluralism, while reaffirming the central role of public media in a European democratic area.

Let’s never forget that beyond its mission to inform, public media plays a structuring role in democratic life. It contributes to the creation of a space for informed thought and diverse opinions, for the transmission of knowledge, for bringing to light talent from all horizons, and plays an active part in the cultural and economic dynamism of the regions. By supporting creativity, training professionals and promoting diversity, it generates societal and economic value that are often underestimated, but essential to the local fabric.

The challenge is therefore to build a strong alliance between all content creators, producers and publishers to preserve a dynamic local cultural ecosystem.

To provide a sustainable response, dialogue between citizens, politicians, media professionals and researchers is more vital than ever. It is less a question of defending a fixed model than of imagining together what a public service adapted to the challenges of tomorrow will look like.

RTBF: financial stakes and editorial independence

The case of RTBF illustrates this tension in an exemplary way. In the midst of digital transformation, with a desire to strengthen its ties with the public, RTBF is facing political proposals to restrict its scope of action, redefine its missions and reduce its resources. This is happening at a time when the need for a general-interest public broadcaster has never been more urgent.

The government of the Communauté Française, installed after the June 2024 elections, has frozen public funding at the 2025 level, doing away with the double indexation previously granted. The public broadcaster will have to reduce its budget by 12% between 2025 and 2028.

A programme of savings over several years (2025-2028) has been proposed and approved by the Board of Directors. Nearly 150 measures have been identified, including an analysis of impacts and benefits, risks, and key stages of implementation. There is no redundancy plan, but nearly 170 full-time equivalents (FTEs) will be leaving without being replaced, support services will be streamlined, sports rights and the entertainment content will be reduced, and new revenue streams will need to be identified.

This is a complex exercise that the teams will have to carry out to continue to inform and analyse the news, offer a cultural and entertaining offering, and maintain an active digital presence to attract the younger generations through its proprietary platforms.

A call for cooperation

From this perspective, cooperation between players becomes a condition of resilience. No public media can stand up to the power of global digital platforms alone. The challenge is therefore to build a strong alliance between all content creators, producers and publishers to preserve a dynamic local cultural ecosystem.

Considering greater collaboration between public media would make a lot of sense, as they share the same DNA and identical missions to engage all the audiences in their linguistic community.

In France, for example, this approach is embodied in the creation of LaFA (La Filière de l’Audiovisuel), which brings together France Télévisions, TF1, M6, the CNC and producers’ associations around shared production and broadcasting strategies.

This perspective also animates projects such as the Public Spaces Incubator (PSI), which aims to improve digital conversations and encourage citizen participation, and which brings together CBC/Radio Canada, RTBF, SRG SSR, ZDF, ABC and ARD, with an open-source approach.

In Belgium, collaboration between local players on their digital platforms would make it possible to pool technological resources and provide a range of services accessible to all, without competing unnecessarily. Considering greater collaboration between public media would make a lot of sense, as they share the same DNA and identical missions to engage all the audiences in their linguistic community.

Such cooperation, both pragmatic and visionary, would strengthen the impact of public media, reinforce their service mission and provide lasting support for the cultural and economic diversity of our territories.